White Inch was an island lying in the

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

waters of the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

close to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the Parish of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, Scotland. Due to the deliberate disposal of dredged material from the Clyde, it became physically part of the northern, Lanarkshire side, of the river bank from the 1830s and is now entirely built over. The name lives on in the

Whiteinch Whiteinch () is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde, between the Partick and Scotstoun areas of the city. Whiteinch was at one stage part of the burgh of Partick, until that burgh's absorp ...

district of

, street names, etc., and probably relates to white coloured sand deposits.

Islands in the River Clyde

Islands of the River Clyde, rather than sand or mud banks only exposed at low water, once included in the order, working upstream towards Glasgow:- Milton, Bodinbo, Newshot, Ron, Sand Inch, Kings Inch, Buck Inch, White Inch, and Water Inch. A Colin's Isle also once sat in the waters of the Cart near its confluence with the River Clyde. Buck Inch was locally known as the 'Packman Isle' and has merged with the lands of Scotstoun. The name 'Inch' is Scots deriving from the Gaelic 'Innis', an island. The name 'Ron' in Scots refers to a thicket of hawthorns or rose briers, an area of stunted and crowded woodland. Buck Inch may translate as a place where the sound of pouring or gushing water was heard.

White Inch

Circa 1636-52 Gordon's map shows White Inch and the other islands without recording the name. Prior to 1732 the island is clearly shown in the Clyde on

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a British cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-17th century in German ...

's map with Water Inch upstream and Buck Inch downstream. Roy's map of circa 1747 does not clearly indicate an island, but Whiteinch farm is shown as is a road running east–west. James Barry's 1758 plan of the Clyde names White Inch and shows it as an island. It lay opposite the old Linthouse Estate and between the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin () is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, Scotland, Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it initially flows south to D ...

and the Whiteinch Burn. Access to the island would have been relatively straightforward as the water depth was as little as , permitting its use as part of a farm owned by the Smith's of

Jordanhill Jordanhill (, )
is an affluent area of the

Dredging of the Clyde

The development of

as a port necessitated the deepening of the

and the removal of obstacles such as hard gravel at the Marlin Ford, etc. Dredging works produced large volumes of rocks, silt and so on that had to be disposed of as cheaply as possible. James Smith of Jordanhill owned the lands of Jordanvale and White Inch. As an experienced businessman, he struck a mutually beneficial deal with the Clyde Trust, that involved them, at a negligible cost, discarding the silt, etc. from the dredging operations into the river channel on the northern side of the island and onto the low land between Jordanvale and White Inch. The usual dredging punts, towed by steamboats, brought the infill to the area and as a result, the ground level was artificially raised by between . As a result, in the 1830s, White Inch ceased to be an island even during average floods. The site of the island was used for shipyards and is now completely covered by industrial buildings.

The ford

When the Linthouse Shipyard was constructing new berths in 1913 stones were found in the Clyde and when inspected by the Old Govan Club it was concluded that they were remains of the stepping stones of the ford that once crossed from the south bank of the river. The stones ran to White Inch and then continued to the north bank.

The Course of the River Clyde

The Clyde flooded in the 17th century and its course altered as recorded in the 'First Statistical Account' states that the river "''left its usual course, nearly opposite to Scotstoun, took a semi-circular direction, leaving the King’s Inch on the north side, and running along the bottom of the garden belonging to the manse, came into its present direction''". This suggests that the

's main current may have reduced at the White Inch's northern channel.

Paisley Abbey

Circa 1168 thirteen monks from

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in Shropshire, England; it is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the north-east, is the Ironbridge Gorge and Telford. The civil parish incl ...

arrived at

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

and were lodged at Steward's castle on

King's Inch King's Inch and the much smaller Sand Inch were islands lying in the estuary, estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to Renfrew in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Due to dredging and a change of the course of the main current of the River Clyde, silt ...

at a church dedicated to Saints Mary and James. The accommodation at

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

was not ready for them at the time. Osbert was appointed as the prior. The monks had trading rights in the area and fishing rights on the

. By the year 1172, the monks had moved to Paisley Abbey.

Walter Fitz Alan Walter FitzAlan (1177) was a twelfth-century Anglo-Norman baron who became a Scottish magnate and Steward of Scotland. He was a younger son of Alan fitz Flaad and Avelina de Hesdin. In about 1136, Walter entered into the service of David I, K ...

gave

and all the fishings on the Clyde between the island and Partick to the abbey.

References

;Notes ;Sources *Leighton, John (1840). ''Strath-Clutha or the Beauties of Clyde''. Glasgow:Joseph Swan. *Metcalfe, W.D. (1905). ''A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times.'' Paisley : Alexander Gardner. *Moore, John (2017). ''The Clyde. Mapping the River''. Edinburgh : Birlinn Ltd.. *Sweeney, Dan (2015). ''Postscript to the Past. Lost Mansions and Houses of Renfrewshire.'' Windsor Press. .

External links

Park Quay ship graveyard near Erskine
{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Inch Lanarkshire River islands of Scotland Islands of the Clyde River Clyde Clyde Clyde Clyde Firth of Clyde Govan Partick Former islands of Scotland